The Mystique of Seashells

When you put your ear up to a seashell, you are not actually hearing the ocean, but rather ambient noise amplified by the shell's shape. The polished interior of the shell acts as a reflector for sounds that exist in your environment, capturing and enhancing those sounds to create the illusion of ocean waves. This phenomenon showcases how environmental sound waves can be manipulated by physical objects, such as shells, to produce unexpected auditory experiences. Interestingly, in soundproof settings like an anechoic chamber, one would not hear the same effect, emphasizing the role of background noise in this auditory illusion.